General

Shapeshifter

Shapeshifter is a digital complex oscillator created by Intellijel and Cylonix.

Links

Shapeshifter Home
Shapeshifter Manual

Note: Some images are derived from the official Shapeshifter manual and are used with permission from Intellijel.

Sections

Frontpanel
This section describes the frontpanel functionality of the Shapeshifter. It also serves as a decent overview of the synthesis options available.
After pressing a panel button, in most cases turn the left data encoder to change the value of the displayed parameter.
Note: Preset mode is covered in it's own section.

Frontpanel: Top Left
WAVE BANK Press to edit the wavetable bank for OSC1. Press again to edit the wavetable bank for OSC2.
SYNC / PULSE Press one or more times to edit (in order) OSC1 sync, OSC2 sync, Pulse output mode. See the additional sections for description of sync and pulse modes.
MOD A Press to edit the modulation destination for MODA input. Press again to edit whether OSC2 output modifies SHAPE1, TILT, or nothing.
MULTI / CHORD TYPE The MULTI setting for each oscillator joins subsequent waveforms from the wavetable into a single waveform. For example when MULTI for OSC 1 is set to 2, OSC 1 will emit one cycle of the current waveform, then one cycle of the next waveform in the wavetable, then back to one cycle of the first waveform, etc.

Press MULTI to edit OSC1 multi. Press again to edit OSC2 multi. If CHORD MODE is activated, press a third time to edit CHORD TYPE. See "Chord Types" section for a description of all chord types available.

Frontpanel: Top Right
COMBO MODE Press to change the mode how OSC1 and OSC2 are combined before being sent to OUT1.

Press a second time to enable MOD B control over COMBO MODE. See "Combo Modes" sections for description of each combo mode.
TILT / CHORD DRIVE TILT phase modulates OSC 1 with it's own output, effectively "tilting" the waveform.

Press to modify the TILT level for OSC 1. Press a second time to enable MOD B control over TILT.
When CHORD MODE is active, this button edits CHORD DRIVE instead of TILT. CHORD DRIVE amplifies, then clips, each voice in the chord.
DELAY DEPTH OUT1 is optionally run through a delay line whose delay time is equal to OSC2 frequency.

Press to edit delay depth, which sets both the amount of delay feedback and the wet/dry output ratio. Press again to enable MOD B modulation of DELAY DEPTH.

Set OSC2 to LFO mode for a traditional delay effect, or set it to audio rate for the delay line to act as a resonator.
CHORD DETUNE / PERC DECAY If CHORD MODE is enabled, press to edit CHORD DETUNE, which fattens the chord sound by detuning each oscillator. Press a second time to enable MOD B modulation of CHORD DETUNE.

If PERCUSSION MODE is enabled, the percussion envelope decay time (PERC DELAY) will be edited when this button is pressed instead. Press a second time to enable MOD B modulation of PERC DELAY.

Frontpanel: Middle Section
QUANT and RATIO/TIME When QUANT is disabled, OSC 2's frequency is controlled by PITCH 2, offset by RATIO.

When QUANT is enabled, PITCH 2 input is ignored and OSC 2's frequency is a fixed fraction or multiple ratio OSC 1's frequency, controlled by RATIO. The possible frequency ratios for OSC 2 are 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 1, 5/4, 3/2, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8.

When QUANT is flashing, OSC 2's frequency is clocked to an incoming clock signal present on the PITCH 2 input. RATIO controls a clock divider / multiplier with possible ratios of 1/24, 1/16, 1/12, 1/8, 1/6, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12. In this case, the LFO2 setting is ignored.
INT FM This knob, combined with the INT. FM CV input, controls how much OSC 2's output modulates OSC 1's frequency.
INT. SYNC When lit, both OSC 1 and OSC 2 are synced to an internal oscillator running at the same base frequency as OSC 1 (but not affected by OSC 1 FM inputs).

When flashing, the internal oscillator is set to half of OSC 1's frequency.

See "Sync Modes" to understand how OSC 1 and OSC 2 will react to sync.
COARSE / FINE These provide an offset to both OSC 1 and OSC 2 frequency.
LFO / 1 / 2 Press to cycle through setting OSC 2, OSC 1, or both to LFO speeds, lowered by 7 octaves.
When LFO 2 is enabled and QUANT is disabled, OSC 2's frequency is no longer affected by COARSE and FINE knobs.
CHORD MODE When enabled, OSC1 emits 8-oscillator chords, controlled by CHORD TYPE and CHORD DETUNE.

Some other frontpanel buttons change functionality with CHORD MODE enabled.
SHAPE 1 / SHAPE 2 SHAPE 1 and SHAPE 2 (combined with their respective CV inputs) choose a smoothly interpolated waveform for OSC 1 and OSC 2 from their currently selected wave banks.
PERC MODE When PERCUSSION MODE enabled, an envelope controls the gain of OUT 1. The envelope decay time is controlled by the PERC DECAY parameter.

Press PERC MODE once to enable PERCUSSION MODE, where the decay envelope is triggered by a rising edge on the SYNC input.

Press PERC MODE a second time and the decay envelope will remain high as long as SYNC input is high.
FOLD FOLD knob plus FOLD CV input controls the depth of the analog wavefolding applied to the FOLD input (which is normaled to OUT 1).

Frontpanel: Modulation Row
RATIO Combines with RATIO knob. See QUANT / RATIO above.
INT. FM Combines with INT. FM knob to determine the depth of internal frequency modulation.
FM 1 Modulates OSC 1 frequency.
FOLD CV Combines with FOLD knob to determine depth of wavefolding applied to FOLD input.
MOD A AC-coupled input to the MOD A modulation bus. Note that it is normaled to OUT 1, so even with nothing plugged in the MOD A attenuator controls the depth of modulation and a signal is present.
SHAPE 1 / SHAPE 2 Combines with SHAPE 1 / SHAPE 2 knobs to calculate OSC 1 and OSC 2 positions within their active wavetable banks.
MOD B Combines with MOD B knob to determine the value of the MOD B modulation bus.

Frontpanel: Bottom Row
PEAK / LFO 1 When OSC 1 is not in LFO mode, this LED indicates either FM 1 or MOD A inputs are hitting the limits of their ranges and are clipping.
When OSC 1 is in LFO mode, this LED is lit when OSC 1's polarity is positive.
PITCH 1 / PITCH 2 1V/oct voltage inputs for OSC 1 and OSC 2. PITCH 2 is normalled to PITCH 1. When QUANT mode is flashing, PITCH 2 expects a clock signal to sync to instead of a V/oct signal.
SYNC Rising edges on this input will cause OSC 1 and OSC 2 to sync based on their active SYNC modes.

When PERC mode is activated this input controls the percussion envelope.

FOLD IN Input to the onboard analog wavefolder, normalled to OUT 1.
OUT 1 Output 1, which is the result of OSC 1 optionally combined with OSC 2, optionally through the percussion mode envelope, then optionally through the delay line.
OUT 2 Oscillator 2 output.
Pulse Configurable pulse (0-5v) output controlled by PULSE setting.
FOLD Output of the analog wavefolder.
PULSE / LFO 2 When OSC 2 is not in LFO mode, this LED indicates when the PULSE output is high.

When OSC 2 is in LFO mode, this LED indicates when OSC 2 polarity is positive.
Combo Modes
To change combo modes press COMBO MODE and rotate the data encoder.

Press COMBO MODE twice to modulate combo mode via MOD B.

Mode Description
osc1 OUT1 is the bitwise result of OSC1 AND OSC2.
ring OUT1 is OSC1 ring modulated (or multiplied) by OSC2.
min OUT1 is equal to whichever OSC has a lower value.
pong OUT1 is OSC1 if it is positive, otherwise OSC2 if it is negative, otherwise 0.
inlv OUT1 is the result of interleaving the bits of OSC1 and OSC2's values. First bit from OSC1, then a bit from OSC2, ...
and OUT1 is the bitwise result of OSC1 AND OSC2.
xor OUT1 is the bitwise result of OSC1 XOR OSC2.
gLcH OUT1 is the result of a complex bitwise algorithm combining OSC1 and OSC2.

Sync Modes
Both oscillators can be synced:
  • Externally when a value greater than 0.2 volts is present on SYNC input.
  • To an internal oscillator when INT SYNC is enabled.
When INT SYNC is pressed once the internal sync oscillator is the same base frequency as OSC1.
When INT SYNC is flashing, the internal sync oscillator is half the frequency as OSC1.
Press SYNC/PULSE/STEP and turn data encoder to select sync modes for each oscillator.

Mode Description
Hard Oscillator phase is reset to zero when sync occurs.
Soft Oscillator phase is reset to zero if it is within the first 1/4 of it's cycle when sync occurs.
Rev The oscillator direction is reversed when a sync event occurs.
Hold Oscillator switches between holding a steady value, and running normally, on each sync event.
1shot Oscillator runs for one cycle of the waveform on each sync event. Useful in LFO mode to act as a complex envelope.
Bump Oscillator's phase is incremented by 1/4 a wavecycle on each sync event.
2=1 Sync Same as Hard mode, but also generates additional sync events on oscillator 2 whenever oscillator 2 and 1 have equal output values.
1=2 Sync Same as Hard mode, but also generates additional sync events on oscillator 1 whenever oscillator 1 and 2 have equal output values.
Off Sync events have no effect on the oscillator.

Pulse Modes
Pulse mode controls the PULSE output signal functionality, which outputs either a 0v or 5v value.
Press SYNC/PULSE twice and rotate data encoder to modify PULSE function.

Mode PULSE output
+o1 high when either oscillator 1 is positive, otherwise 0.
+o2 high when either oscillator 2 is positive, otherwise 0.
EOC high at the end of the PERC MODE envelope, low while PERC MODE envelope is decaying. If PERC MODE is disabled, PULSE will always be high.
-o2 high when oscillator 2 is negative.
OR high when oscillator 1 or 2 is positive.
AND high when oscillator 1 and 2 is positive.
XOR high when one of oscillator 1, or 2, but not both, are positive.
gLcH high when the result of the gLcH combo mode would be positive. This is available for PULSE even if gLcH is not the active COMBO MODE.
sq1 square wave with frequency equal to oscillator 1.
sq2 square wave with frequency equal to oscillator 2.
pmw1 pulse width waveform with frequency equal to oscillator 1, and variable width controlled by SHAPE 1.
pmw2 pulse width waveform with frequency equal to oscillator 2, and variable width controlled by SHAPE 2.
1>2 high when the value of oscillator 1 is higher than oscillator 2.
1<2 high when the value of oscillator 1 is lower than oscillator 2.
RND1 random value, updated once at the start of every cycle of oscillator 1.
RND2 random value, updated once at the start of every cycle of oscillator 2.

MOD A Destinations
MOD A modulation input is high speed (96khz) and AC-coupled. It is normalized to OUT 1, so even with nothing patched the MOD A attenuator is an important control for the output of the patch.
To Change MOD A modulation destination, press MOD A / MORPH and turn the data encoder.

Mode Description
Phase2 MOD A modulates the phase of oscillator 2.
Combo 2 MOD A's signal is sent into the COMBO MODE oscillator combiner in place of oscillator 2.
Shaper 2 MOD A is used to address the wavetable for oscillator 2. PITCH 2 and RATIO have no effect, and instead the MOD A signal is converted to an address in oscillator 2's waveform. For example, a rising sawtooth sent to MOD A would emit oscillator 2's waveform at the same rate as the input sawtooth.
Voc MOD MOD A is used as the modulation signal for the 64-band vocoder. The output of the oscillator COMBO is used as the carrier signal.
Phase 1 MOD A modulates the phase of oscillator 1.
Combo 1 MOD A's signal is sent into the COMBO MODE oscillator combiner in place of oscillator 1.
Shaper 1 MOD A is used to address the wavetable for oscillator 1. In Chord Mode only the first oscillator is affected.
Voc CARR MOD A is used as the carrier signal for the 64-band vocoder.
Sync 2 MOD A is used as the sync input for oscillator 2, allowing oscillators 1 and 2 to be syncronized to different signals.
PrstStep MOD A is used as a trigger to step in PRESET STEP mode. This allows the SYNC input to be used for sync signals or preset stepping.


Basic1


Basic2


BasRec


BiPuls


BitCr1


BitCr2


BitCr3


BitCr4


Buzzer


Cello1


Cello2


Chip1


Chip2


Chip3


Chip4


Chip5


Chip6


Chirp1


Chirp2


Chirp3


Chirp4


Chirp5


Chirp6


Chirp7


Chirp8


Chirp9


Chrp10


Chrp11


Chrp12


Chrp13


Chrp14


Chrp15


Chrp16


Chrp17


Chrp18


Chrp19


Chrp20


Clmet


Clav1


Clav2


Dstrt1


Dstrt2


Dstrt3


eBass1


eBass2


eBass3


eBass4


ePian1


ePian2


ePian3


ePian4


ePian5


Flute1


GapSaw


Grain1


Grain2


Grain3


Gitar1


Gitar2


Gitar3


Gitar4


Harmo1


Harmo2


Harmo3


LFO1


LFO2


LFO3


LFO4


LFO5


LFO6


LFO7


LFO8


LFO9


LFO10


LFO11


LFO12


LFO13


LFO14


LFO15


LFO16


LFO17


LFO18


LFO19


LFO20


LFO21


Misc1


Misc2


Misc3


Misc4


Noise1


Noise2


Noise3


Noise4


Noise5


Noise6


Oboes


Chvlo1


Chvlo2


Raw1


Raw2


Raw3


ResPls


ResSaw


ResSqu


Saxoph


Symmtr


Thrmin


2Tone1


2Tone2


2Tone3


2Tone4


2Tone5


2Tone6


2Tone7


2Tone8


2Tone9


VidGm1


VidGm2


VidGm3


VidGm4


Violin


Vocal1


Vocal2


Vocal3


Vocal4


Vocal5


Vocal6


Vocal7

Chord Mode
When CHORD MODE is enabled, oscillator 1 emits 8 waveforms with the same shape, but different frequencies.
Press CHORD MODE and rotate data encoder to pick the chord shape (see table below).
Chord voices can also be detuned and overdriven via CHORD DETUNE and CHORD DRIVE functions which are active when CHORD MODE is active.

Chord Mode Description
uniso Unison
m2nd Minor 2nd interval (1 semitone)
M2nd Major 2nd interval
m3rd Minor 3rd interval
M3rd Major 3rd interval
4th 4th interval
trito Tritone interval
5th 5th interval
aug5 Augmented 5th interval
6th 6th interval
m7th Minor 7th interval
M7th Major 7th interval
octav Octave interval
suboc Suboctave
2oct Octave + 2octave
minor Minor triad
minI1 Minor triad / 1st inversion
minI2 Minor triad / 2nd inversion
major Major triad
majI1 Major triad / 1st inversion
majI2 Major triad / 2nd inversion
sus Suspended triad
aug Augmented triad
dim Diminished triad
maj6 Major 6th
maj7 Major 7th
7M1st Major 7th / 1st inversion
7M2nd Major 7th / 2nd inversion
7M3rd Major 7th / 3rd inversion
dom Dominant 7th
7D1st Dominant 7th / 1st inversion
7D2nd Dominant 7th / 2nd inversion
7D3rd Dominant 7th / 3rd inversion
min7 Minor 7th
7m1st Minor 7th / 1st inversion
7m2nd Minor 7th / 2nd inversion
7m3rd Minor 7th / 3rd inversion
hdim7 Half diminished 7th
7h1st Half diminished 7th / 1st inversion
7h2nd Half diminished 7th / 2nd inversion
7h3rd Half diminished 7th / 3rd inversion
dim7 Diminished 7th
7d1st Diminished 7th / 1st inversion
7d2nd Diminished 7th / 2nd inversion
7d3rd Diminished 7th / 3rd inversion
7sus Suspended 7th
7s1st Suspended 7th / 1st inversion
7s2nd Suspended 7th / 2nd inversion
7s3rd Suspended 7th / 3rd inversion
D9th Dominant 9th
9D2nd Dominant 9th / 2nd inversion
Dm9th Dominant minor 9th
Dm9-2 Dominant minor 9th / 2nd inversion
maj9 Major 9th
9M2nd Major 9th / 2nd inversion
min9 Minor 9th
9m2nd Minor 9th / 2nd inversion
M6/9 Major 6/9
m6/9 Minor 6/9
9b5 9th, flat 5th
9#5 9th, sharp 5th
D11th Dominant 11th
m11th Minor 11th
CH*(...) When Chord type begins with a *, it is controlled by MODB. Enable by selecting the last entry in the chord type list.

Preset Mode

Use Preset mode to load, save, sequence and morph between 100 stored presets.
Press the left data entry encoder underneath the PRESET MODE LED to enable/disable Preset mode. The red PRESET MODE LED indicates when Preset mode is active.

A preset contains values for every knob and patch setting. When a preset is loaded, the physical knob positions are ignored until the knob is moved.

The last loaded preset is remembered by the Shapeshifter, and reloaded on powerup.


Preset: Key Combos
Hold COMBO MODE and press MORPH to randomize all preset values.
Hold COMBO MODE and press LOAD to initialize all preset values.

Preset Mode: Controls
SAVE Press to begin saving into the currently displayed "Preset ##"" slot number.
The LCD will display "Save? No". Rotate encoder until it the LCD displays "Save? YES". Then press SAVE again.
LOAD Press to load the currently displayed "Prset ##" slot number into the active patch.
MORPH Press to begin morphing between the current panel settings and a chosen preset.
Rotate the left data encoder to change presets.
Use MOD B knob and CV input to morph between panel state (counter-clockwise) and the preset value (clockwise).
Note: INT SYNC and PERC MODE are always read from the panel state and are not morphed.

Preset Stepping
Press STEP to enter preset stepping mode.
In preset step mode, a series of presets are sequenced via either triggers sent to SYNC or by setting MOD A to "PrstStep".
Turn the left rotary encoder to choose between the seven settings for preset step mode.
Fwd: NN Press STEP to step through presets in a forward direction when a trigger is sent to SYNC.
Rev: NN Press STEP to step through presets in a reverse direction when a trigger is sent to SYNC.
Fw/Rv: NN Press STEP to step through presets in a forward direction to the last preset, then reverse back to the first preset, when a trigger is sent to SYNC.
RandP: NN Press STEP to step through presets randomly between the beginning and ending preset number when a trigger is sent to SYNC.
RandS: NN Press STEP to randomize all preset parameters when a trigger is sent to SYNC. Presets are not used.
Mod B: NN Press STEP to continuously select the preset by the value of MOD B knob and CV input.
Begin: NN Press STEP and rotate the left data encoder to select the starting preset number to sequence from.
End: NN Press STEP and rotate the left data encoder to select the ending preset number to sequence from.
Div: NN Press STEP and rotate the left data encoder to configure a clock divider for incoming triggers on SYNC. For example, when set to 8, the preset will change to the next in sequence after 8 incoming trigger pulses.

Preset Naming
Hold down COMBO MODE and press STEP to edit the preset name. Turn the encoder to change characters, and press COMBO MODE to edit the next character.

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